Wheel assembly, methods, and applications

ABSTRACT

A quick release mechanism for a wheel includes a hub and a clip, which interact with a wheel or roller that may or may not be part of the invention per se. The hub is disposable on a drive shaft such that it will rotate with the drive shaft. An optional hub cap is disposable on the wheel and has an opening that is complimentary to the geometry of the hub to allow engagement thereof such that the hub the hub cap rotate together. The clip is disposable on the hub in a closed or an open position so that the hub cap cannot or can be removed from the hub.

RELATED APPLICATION DATA

The instant application claims priority from U.S. Provisionalapplication Ser. No. 62/414,912 filed Oct. 31, 2016, the subject matterof which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

GOVERNMENT FUNDING

N/A.

BACKGROUND

Aspects and embodiments of the invention are most generally directed toa wheel assembly and associated methods and applications; moreparticularly to a quick release mechanism for a wheel; and, mostparticularly to a quick release mechanism for a wheel used on a movablerobotic platform, and associated methods and applications.

Although not intended to be limiting in any way or manner, aspects andembodiments of the invention disclosed herein will be described in termsof a quick release mechanism for a wheel used on a robotic vacuum (orfloor) cleaner.

The wheels of a commercial vacuum cleaner are prone to getting dirtyand/or clogged with debris during use. Wheel service, cleaning, and/orreplacement may typically be conducted during a professional servicecall, generating expense and taking up potential in-use time. It wouldbe beneficial and advantageous to be able to easily remove, clean,replace, and/or otherwise service the wheel(s) of a commercial vacuumcleaner without the need for professional services, specialized tools,and in a more cost- and time-efficient manner. These advantages areenabled by the embodied invention.

SUMMARY

An aspect of the invention is a quick release wheel mechanism. Anembodied quick release wheel mechanisms include a hub and a clip, whichinteract with a wheel or roller that may or may not be part of theinvention per se. According to an embodiment, a quick release wheelmechanism includes a hub component that is disposable on a drive shaftsuch that it will rotate with the drive shaft, wherein the hub componenthas a given geometry and includes clip component engagement means; and aclip component having hub component engagement means that are engageablewith the clip component engagement means, wherein the clip component isdisposable in at least one of a closed position so as to preclude theengagement or disengagement of a wheel from the hub and an open positionso as to allow the engagement or disengagement of the wheel from thehub, through the hub cap opening. In various alternative embodiments,the quick release wheel mechanism may include one or more of thefollowing limitations, features, components, characteristics, steps asfollows:

wherein the clip component engagement means are diametrically opposedopenings and the hub component engagement means are diametricallyopposed projections engageable in the openings;

wherein the clip component engagement means are diametrically opposedprojections and the hub component engagement means are diametricallyopposed openings engageable in the projections;

further comprising a hub cap component disposable on the wheel, whereinthe hub cap component has an opening that is complimentary to thegeometry of the hub component to allow engagement thereof such that uponengagement of the hub cap component with the hub component the hub capcomponent will rotate with the hub component;

-   -   wherein the hub cap component further comprises a depression in        an outer surface thereof configured to receive a fingertip of a        person;    -   wherein the hub cap component further comprises a clip detent        that engages the clip component in the closed position;    -   wherein the hub geometry and the hub cap opening are        longitudinally elongate in shape and the clip component has a        semi-circular geometry;    -   further comprising a wheel engageable with the hub component and        upon which the hub cap is disposable;

wherein the wheel is an omni-wheel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates an assembled quick release wheelmechanism including a direct-driven Mecanum or Omni-wheel (not part ofthe invention per se) mounted on a robotic vacuum cleaner platform,according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 schematically shows a hub cap component and features thereof ofthe quick release wheel mechanism, according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3 schematically illustrates a motor pod (not part of the inventionper se) that contains a motor (not shown, not part of the invention perse) therein with a hub component of the quick release wheel mechanismthat is press-fit to the motor drive shaft and spins with the driveshaft, according to an illustrative embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4A schematically illustrates the motor pod with the hub componentinstalled; FIG. 4B schematically illustrates a snap clip component ofthe quick release wheel mechanism, according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 schematically shows the snap clip component of the quick releasewheel mechanism in an ‘open’ orientation, according to an illustrativeembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY, NON-LIMITING EMBODIMENTS OF THEINVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates a robotic vacuum cleaner omni-wheel assembly 100showing a direct-drive Mecanum or Omni/poly wheel 102 with rollers 101(not part of the invention per se), and a quick release wheel mechanismincluding a hub cap component 104 (which may or may not be a part of theinvention per se; see FIG. 3) attached to an outer surface of the wheelassembly, a hub component 106 that is directly mounted to the wheel'sdrive motor (not part of the invention per se; see FIG. 3), and asemi-circular clip component 108 that is pivotally attached to oppositetransverse ends of the hub. It will be appreciated that the wheel per semay be of any type provided that it can be mounted onto the driveshaft/hub assembly. The clip is advantageously made of an elastic orresilient-type material that can sufficiently flex to be assembled tothe hub. The clip 108 is shown in FIG. 1 rotated to a ‘closed’ positionto secure the wheel to the driving hub 106. The clip is made of amaterial (e.g., plastic, metal) such that it can flex enough to forciblypass one or more small detents 110 formed in the hub cap 104 tosecure/lock the wheel in the installed position when it is orientedtransverse to the hub cap slot 116. The clip 108 can be rotated to an‘open’ position (see FIG. 5) thus orienting it parallel to thelongitudinal axis 112 of the hub and the slot 116.

FIG. 2 shows the hub cap 104 including the clip detent(s) 110, scallopedfinger access regions 114, and a shaped slot 116 that is complimentaryto the shape of the end of the hub 106 for engagement therewith. Theshaped slot 116 enables the wheel 102 to be engaged and driven by thehub 106. It will be appreciated that the shape of the hub and theopening in the hub cap need only be complimentary so as to allowengagement and rotation of the hub cap with the hub. The scalloped cuts114 in the hub cap allow finger access to the clip 108 edges.

FIG. 3 illustrates a wheel-drive motor pod 122 (not part of theinvention per se) that contains a motor (not shown, not part of theinvention per se) therein. The hub 106 may advantageously be press-fitto the motor drive shaft (shown in dotted line), thus spinning with themotor shaft when it turns. Clip 108 is also shown being oriented in the‘closed’ position.

FIG. 4A illustrates the motor pod 122 with the hub installed as shown inFIG. 3 but without the clip 108. FIG. 4B illustrates the snap clip 108,which is configured to flex in order to mount to the opposite ends 133of the hub 106 via projections 134 that are rotatably disposed inopenings in hub ends 133. Similarly although not shown, the ends of theclip could have openings that could engage complimentary projections onthe opposite ends of the hub. The detents 110 (FIG. 2) on the hub capenable the clip to have two operational orientations: ‘closed’ as shownin FIG. 1 and ‘open’ as shown in FIG. 5. In the open position, the clip108 is parallel to or aligned with the shaped slot 116 in the hub capand the longitudinal axis 106 of the end of the hub, enabling removal ofthe hub cap/wheel assembly.

In operation, a person may engage the tips of their thumb and a fingerin scallops 114, flip the clip 108 from the secured ‘closed’ position tothe ‘open’ position, and simply and easily slide the wheel off the hub106. Reinstallation of the wheel is performed by the reverse procedure.

Another embodiment of the invention is a quick release wheel assembly asillustrated in FIG. 3, in which a hub cap 104 is optional but notrequired. While the hub cap provides certain convenience features foroperation such as access spaces for a person's fingertips and detents tolocking/unlocking the clip in the ‘closed’ and ‘open’ positions, a wheelsuch as wheel 102 shown in FIG. 1, without the hub cap 104, may be slidover hub 106, and clip 108 moved to a ‘closed’ position similarly asdescribed above. The wheel itself may have detent features to secure theclip in the ‘closed’ position, or the engagement features 133 on the huband 134 on the clip may be so shaped to provide secure positioning inthe open and closed positions and ease of movement between thosepositions.

While several inventive embodiments have been described and illustratedherein, those of ordinary skill in the art will readily envision avariety of other means and/or structures for performing the functionand/or obtaining the results and/or one or more of the advantagesdescribed herein, and each of such variations and/or modifications isdeemed to be within the scope of the inventive embodiments describedherein. More generally, those skilled in the art will readily appreciatethat all parameters, dimensions, materials, and configurations describedherein are meant to be exemplary and that the actual parameters,dimensions, materials, and/or configurations will depend upon thespecific application or applications for which the inventive teachingsis/are used. Those skilled in the art will recognize, or be able toascertain using no more than routine experimentation, many equivalentsto the specific inventive embodiments described herein. It is,therefore, to be understood that the foregoing embodiments are presentedby way of example only and that, within the scope of the appended claimsand equivalents thereto, inventive embodiments may be practicedotherwise than as specifically described and claimed. Inventiveembodiments of the present disclosure are directed to each individualfeature, system, article, material, kit, and/or method described herein.In addition, any combination of two or more such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods, if such features, systems,articles, materials, kits, and/or methods are not mutually inconsistent,is included within the inventive scope of the present disclosure.

All definitions, as defined and used herein, should be understood tocontrol over dictionary definitions, definitions in documentsincorporated by reference, and/or ordinary meanings of the definedterms.

The indefinite articles “a” and “an,” as used herein in thespecification and in the claims, unless clearly indicated to thecontrary, should be understood to mean “at least one.”

The phrase “and/or,” as used herein in the specification and in theclaims, should be understood to mean “either or both” of the elements soconjoined, i.e., elements that are conjunctively present in some casesand disjunctively present in other cases. Multiple elements listed with“and/or” should be construed in the same fashion, i.e., “one or more” ofthe elements so conjoined. Other elements may optionally be presentother than the elements specifically identified by the “and/or” clause,whether related or unrelated to those elements specifically identified.Thus, as a non-limiting example, a reference to “A and/or B”, when usedin conjunction with open-ended language such as “comprising” can refer,in one embodiment, to A only (optionally including elements other thanB); in another embodiment, to B only (optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to both A and B (optionallyincluding other elements); etc.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, “or” should beunderstood to have the same meaning as “and/or” as defined above. Forexample, when separating items in a list, “or” or “and/or” shall beinterpreted as being inclusive, i.e., the inclusion of at least one, butalso including more than one, of a number or list of elements, and,optionally, additional unlisted items. Only terms clearly indicated tothe contrary, such as “only one of” or “exactly one of,” or, when usedin the claims, “consisting of,” will refer to the inclusion of exactlyone element of a number or list of elements. In general, the term “or”as used herein shall only be interpreted as indicating exclusivealternatives (i.e. “one or the other but not both”) when preceded byterms of exclusivity, such as “either,” “one of,” “only one of,” or“exactly one of” “Consisting essentially of,” when used in the claims,shall have its ordinary meaning as used in the field of patent law.

As used herein in the specification and in the claims, the phrase “atleast one,” in reference to a list of one or more elements, should beunderstood to mean at least one element selected from any one or more ofthe elements in the list of elements, but not necessarily including atleast one of each and every element specifically listed within the listof elements and not excluding any combinations of elements in the listof elements. This definition also allows that elements may optionally bepresent other than the elements specifically identified within the listof elements to which the phrase “at least one” refers, whether relatedor unrelated to those elements specifically identified. Thus, as anon-limiting example, “at least one of A and B” (or, equivalently, “atleast one of A or B,” or, equivalently “at least one of A and/or B”) canrefer, in one embodiment, to at least one, optionally including morethan one, A, with no B present (and optionally including elements otherthan B); in another embodiment, to at least one, optionally includingmore than one, B, with no A present (and optionally including elementsother than A); in yet another embodiment, to at least one, optionallyincluding more than one, A, and at least one, optionally including morethan one, B (and optionally including other elements); etc. It shouldalso be understood that, unless clearly indicated to the contrary, inany methods claimed herein that include more than one step or act, theorder of the steps or acts of the method is not necessarily limited tothe order in which the steps or acts of the method are recited.

In the claims, as well as in the specification above, all transitionalphrases such as “comprising,” “including,” “carrying,” “having,”“containing,” “involving,” “holding,” “composed of,” and the like are tobe understood to be open-ended, i.e., to mean including but not limitedto. Only the transitional phrases “consisting of” and “consistingessentially of” shall be closed or semi-closed transitional phrases,respectively, as set forth in the United States Patent Office Manual ofPatent Examining Procedures, Section 2111.03.

We claim:
 1. A quick release wheel mechanism, comprising: a hub component configured to couple to a drive shaft such that the hub component will rotate with the drive shaft, the hub component comprising a central portion aligned with the drive shaft and two hub projections projecting outward from the central portion in opposite directions, each hub projection comprising an opening comprising clip component engagement means and configured to receive a hub component engagement means, the hub projections configured to align with a reciprocal slot of a hub cap and to drive rotation of the hub cap when the drive shaft rotates while the hub cap is coupled to the hub component; and a clip component having hub component engagement means that are engageable with the clip component engagement means, wherein the clip component can be configured in each of a closed position so as to preclude the engagement or disengagement of a wheel from the hub component and an open position so as to allow the engagement or disengagement of the wheel from the hub component.
 2. The quick release wheel mechanism of claim 1, wherein each hub projection opening comprises an opening within a surface of a corresponding hub projection facing away from the central portion.
 3. The quick release wheel mechanism of claim 1, wherein each hub component engagement means comprises a hub component projection projecting inward towards a center of the clip component, and wherein the hub component projections are aligned.
 4. The quick release wheel mechanism of claim 1, further comprising a hub cap configured to couple to the hub component via the reciprocal slot of the hub cap.
 5. The quick release wheel mechanism of claim 4, wherein the hub cap further comprises a depression in an outer surface of the hub cap adjacent to clip component when the clip component is configured in the closed position, the depression enabling a fingertip of a person to reconfigure the clip component to the open position.
 6. The quick release wheel mechanism of claim 4, wherein the hub cap further comprises a clip detent that enables the clip component, when configured in the closed position, to abut a surface of hub cap.
 7. The quick release wheel mechanism of claim 4, wherein the hub component, when coupled to the hub cap, protrudes through the reciprocal slot of the hub cap such that the openings within the hub projections are accessible for coupling the clip component to the hub component.
 8. The quick release wheel mechanism of claim 4, further comprising a wheel coupled to the hub cap.
 9. The quick release wheel mechanism of claim 8, wherein the wheel is an omni-wheel.
 10. The quick release wheel mechanism of claim 1, wherein a width of the central portion of the hub component is greater than a width of either hub projection. 